Music is only songs. To learn music, you learn songs.

I mean “song” in the colloquial sense, which includes any piece of music even though not all musical pieces are sung.

This is a pretty simple idea, but it took me years to figure out. I thought I had to learn exercises, warmups, scales, riffs, chords, improvisation, ear training, history, and theory as separate, discrete subjects.

The counterintuitive message from yesterday: A major step toward encouraging students to practice is to stop caring whether they practice.

This actually works. It sounds very "long game", but it doesn't have to take forever to turn things around.

If you want students to practice, you’ve got to create an environment that is based on positive reinforcement.

We’ve all had students who showed up unprepared every single time. You know this person is going to eventually quit, and you wish that day would be today because you’re sick of the stagnant half hour in your week. So if this were the student’s last lesson, how would it be different?

When you decide to teach piano lessons, the freedom is appealing. You can create your own schedule and even quit your day job. No boss!

However, such freedom can also be terrifying. There is no guaranteed income. Instead of one boss, you have twenty or thirty: your clients.

So how do you build a thriving studio you can depend on? How do you attract new students? And how do you ensure that, when summer vacation comes, your students stay with you instead of scattering to the four winds?